They face West Ham at the weekend and welcome back key striker Daniel Sturridge from injury as Brendan Rodgers prepares to chase down a top-four spot in the Premier League.

And Fowler believes the team is close to returning to the sort of form that earned Liverpool a second-place league finish last season.

"With regards to getting our identity back, I think the manager is spot on," he told liverpoolfc.com. "We look, or we're getting back to where we were last season.

"There were a lot of tired bodies last night in the game, but we more than gave a good account of ourselves. I think it opened a lot of people's eyes up last night."

Assessing the match at Stamford Bridge, in which Chelsea finally broke the deadlock after 94 minutes of attrition, Fowler said: "They struggled to break us down. We more than matched them in every department other than the goals and I think [goals] will come for Liverpool.

"I think the potential is there. It's plain for all to see. We've lost the game and we've lost the tie, but I think we can hold our heads up high."